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FEATURING STEROID AND HORMONE FREE BEEF BRISKET SINCE 1988

Ruby’s BBQ offers real pit-smoked barbecue with both traditional and non-traditional sides, as well as Cajun and vegetarian inspired dishes. We hope you enjoy the good food!

Ruby’s opened in November of 1988 in a year marked by a poor economy in Austin. Our mission was to bring good, homemade food to the University of Texas area and the blues folks frequenting Antone’s, and yet maintain
a modest price. This is not an easy task, given the meat intensive focus of our menu. Through the years we have evolved; and the menu has grown with the addition of salads, tacos, Cajun food, vegetarian items, and soup and side dish specials.

Our eclectic clientele from the UT area, Hyde Park, West Austin, “Q” addicts from South Austin, musicians, film aficionados, and many international visitors have encouraged us to expand the menu. (Make sure to check out our many photos and autographs while at the restaurant!) Despite the growth, we have tried to main- tain our down home BBQ roots, which have always been greatly nurtured by the Antone’s blues folks. We are proud to serve ya’ll. Watch for more variety in the future!

That Smoky Flavor

For meat preparation, we prefer the tried and true slow cooking method, using oak wood in our brick and mortar pits. (Stop by and see them!) Many popular BBQ joints use Southern Pride or similar large smokers. These rely on gas or electricity and little wood, but they do smoke lots of meats at once. Our slow-cooking method requires more human intervention and care. We feel the seasoned brick pits result in the unique taste and texture of a backroads Texas product.

Our all natural beef brisket is hormone- and steroid-free. The cattle are fattened without the use of hormones and no antibiotics are used. While this beef is leaner (20-25% less fat) than other U.S. beef, it is juicy and retains a great smoky flavor. After the briskets are prepared with a dry rub of mixed spices, they are smoked with oak wood in brick pits for 12 – 24 hours. We invite you to taste the difference!

All of our food is made from fresh, not canned or frozen, ingredients whenever possible. And, to insure freshness, cooking and prepping are done at Ruby’s daily. We think you’ll enjoy our homemade BBQ sauce, which we’ve been bottling since 1994.